Finally - I found a place to live!

Okay, I am a little behind with keeping you all up-to-date on my adventures...  soo...  I will slowly catch up on everything that has happened.  First, in the early days of November I finally found a place I liked enough to want to live in.  It's a little bit of a different neighborhood than I originally wanted.  But it is walking distance to downtown and walking distance to the water - and just a nice quiet neighborhood.  Work is about 15min drive away - and in summer I could even take the Gallopping Goose trail to ride my bike...  well, we will see about that.  In any case, it's a nice place - and I have my guest rooms too!!  So please, come visit!!

Picking up the keys...

 The living room comes with a real fireplace!  So cool!!

 The kitchen is a tad old fashioned - but it does have a dishwasher and everything you need...

 My two extra bedrooms.  One a pretty green, the other an interessting shade of brown...

 Just like the bathroom.

 And the amazing master bedroom - such a pretty room!

 Still empty it is not quite home yet...

Oh and there is an outside porch too - BBQ parties are on!  :)

Herbst

Mit am schönsten hier ist einfach die Landschaft.  Die Mischung aus Wäldern und Wege und Meer macht einfach jede Menge Spaß!  Und rund um den Campus und mein Häuschen im Wald gibt es unzählige Wege, auf denen es vor allem jetzt im Herbst jede Menge zu entdecken gibt!
Und da muss man schon jede Regenpause und Sonnenstrahl nutzen, um einfach mal die Wälder und Gärten zu genießen...

 Der Japanische Garten auf dem Campus - mit Bäumen, die vor über 100 Jahren aus Japan importiert wurden....

 Das ist der morgendliche Blick beim Frühstück....

 Morgens auf dem Weg zur Arbeit...

 Abends auf dem Weg zurück...

 Das alte Eingangstor..

Herbst ist einfach eine farbenfrohe Angelegenheit!!  Bin mal gespannt, wie das so weitergeht...

Seattle, lots of rain, and catching up with friends

When things were getting a little crazy out here in Victoria, I decided to mix things up and make it even more crazy: a short trip over to Seattle seemed like just the right thing to do!  What could be more perfect then a gettaway to catch up with some of the good old Brussels BSIS crowd that all live in Seattle or Washington, i.e. all about 3 - 6 (?) hours away from me...  Most of us had not seen each other in about 8 years - yet somehow we all seemed to pick up just where we left off.  Catching up on life and where it had taken each one of us, we had a lovely dinner and amazing wine, hosted by Ryan and his wife Ashley (and their 9 week old baby boy Oliver - and Henry the Navigator).  Between them, Erin, Richard, and myself we all agreed to make this a regular thing and rotate between our locations and dinner tables for frequent gettogethers.  Thanks again - it was a blast!!

 

But...  before dinner there was of course the rain...  Seattle did not disappoint in that department.  And yours truly has yet to get an umbrella or hat.  Well, I did get a coat, but...
Ah well.  As Richard and I walked around Seattle (it was his birthday), the Experiential Music Museum and it's SciFi exhibit provided us shelter from the rain and some fun things to look at and learn about.  Who would have remembered that Kurt Cobain shot himself in 1994?
Overall for sure the weekend was way too short!! Man...  time flies when you are having fun.

 Taking the Clipper (a foot passenger only ferry between Victoria and Seattle) started off with A LOT of rain...  This made the 3h trip not really go by any faster - in particular since it was basically pitch black outside basically the whole time.  Great to catch up on sleep and reading...

 Some fun bits and pieces from the EMP - really recommend checking it out!!

This bit seemed way too close to my PhD stuff...  that all seems sooo far away now.  And is still totally relevant!!  :)

 Couldnt have said it better myself.  Go Yoda!

 That's a whole lotta guittars, an amazing art installation in the middle of the museum!

 This made having to get up sooo early at 6.20 in the morning almost worth it.  Would have much much preferred to stay a little longer in Seattle - but...  what to do.

 The ferry did stop just about an hour outside of Seattle for a group of whales that were chilling out.  It was an amazing sight to see - even if too far out to take a proper picture.  For sure I will have to go on a whale watching tour as spring comes along and it all gets a little warmer!  Who's in??

 The few times it didnt rain...  Seattle is really a great city.  And fun to walk around and explore - and go shopping....  will have to come back soon!!

Thanks for a crazy fun time!  It was the gettaway from the long list of decisions and overwhelming impressions surrounding the move that I needed.

The sun came back today - at least for a few hours

My friend Becky flew out to Florida today and I asked her to send over some sun.  Which she did!  Thank you so much Becky!!
I decided to use the opportunity and take a longer route to my meeting across campus and walk through our beautiful gardens.  I just love the Japanese garden.  This stroll did make me late for a faculty meeting (which no one had told me about before), but it was all worth it!

Check out the blue skies in the reflection...

 Fall colors are sooo pretty!

Finally... I have a car!!

As easy as some things work over here - some things seem really more complicated than they have to be.  Like buying a car.  Okay, it took me a while to decide what I really wanted.  But then...  it took the place AGES to sort it all out.  So I bascially spent three hours waiting - and another three hours the next day until I was finally able to drive home with my little beauty.  I LOVE my new car and cant wait to take it out for a longer trip.  It's too much fun!!

Of course one of the firt thigns to do was change the settings to German...  My car and I know how to communicate!!  :)

 Unfortunately though, my little grey beauty has no clue how to find the ways around Victoria - so...  I had to find another little device to help out in that department...  Now, we are all good to go - maps cover all of North America!  Wohoo!!  Road trips, here we come!!

Still a little undecided on the name for the car.  Frontrunners are Mik - and August (Auggie for short).  Any thoughts??